Special enforcement planned later this month for I-70

Law enforcement officers in Kansas and Missouri are joining forces later this month for a one-day enhanced enforcement period along I-70, Kansas Department of Transportation officials announced.

Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, county sheriffs’ deputies and local police officers will be on the lookout for drivers and passengers not wearing seat belts, impaired driving, distracted driving, excessive speed and aggressive driving during a 24-hour enforcement period near the end of the month in advance of the busy Independence Day travel weekend, said Deb Miller, Kansas Secretary of Transportation.

Additional details will be released by KDOT’s traffic safety section via its Twitter feed, @DriveSafeKansas.

Sometimes called the Main Street of America, I-70 carries anywhere from 7,600 vehicles a day near the western border to more than 72,000 in the Kansas City area, according to state travel statistics.

In 2009, the latest year for which figures are available, nearly 2,000 crashes occurred on the interstate in Kansas, resulting in 20 fatalities and 579 injuries.